SPACE: New prestarter feed reducing stress in piglets

French animal nutrition company CCPA launches its global approach around demedicalisation at SPACE, in Rennes, France. Core product in this approach is the prestarter feed Ax'Écla.

The prestarter feed includes selected ingredients with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and has been designed for piglets having high levels of oxidative stress.

Oxidative stress, often occurring during weaning, induces immunodepression, in which defense capabilities of the body are exceeded by the production of ‘free radicals’. These unstable molecules coming from the redox process enhance cell damage and induce a decrease of animal health.

Inflammatory stress is often induced by this process, leading to growth retardation growth. Generally, this type of stress disappears rapidly five to six days after weaning, but in sick animals, it continues.

The formulation lowers the indigestible fraction of proteins. In poor sanitary conditions, a high protein level in the piglet feed leads to an increase of inflammation. The use of soluble and fermentable specific fibres contributes to maintain beneficial flora in the gut and improves nutrient digestibility.

As a consequence, animal performance goes up and medication costs go down. The product has already been used by some customers, especially in difficult sanitary situations where conventional approach with antibiotics was ineffective.

Diagnosis toolCCPA has already been around in the business of stress in piglets for quite some years. The company received an Innov’Space award in 2009 for its diagnosis tool Axiscale, to be used for evaluation of the level of stress experienced by piglets. Using blood tests at weaning, levels of oxidative stress can be determined, on a scale from 0 to 20. In the global field sample data, 50% of piglets presented a note of oxidative stress above 10, considered a medium to high level.